Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (German: [ˈfʁaŋkfʊʁt ʔam ˈmaɪn] ⓘ;[5][6] lit. "Frank ford on the[a] Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany,[b] and it is the only city in the country rated as an "alpha world city" according to GaWC. Located in the foreland of the Taunus on its namesake Main, it forms a continuous conurbation with the neighbouring city of Offenbach am Main and its urban area has a population of over 2.3 million. The city is the heart of the larger Rhine-Main metropolitan region, which has a population of more than 5.8 million and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr region and the fourth biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union. Frankfurt is home to the European Central Bank, one of the institutional seats of the European Union, while Frankfurt's central business district lies about 90 km (56 mi) northwest of the geographic center of the EU at Gadheim in Lower Franconia. Like France and Franconia, the city is named after the Franks. Frankfurt is the largest city in the Rhenish Franconian dialect area.
This article is about the city in Hesse, Germany. For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation).
Frankfurt was a city state, the Free City of Frankfurt, for nearly five centuries, and was one of the most important cities of the Holy Roman Empire, as a site of Imperial coronations; it lost its sovereignty upon the collapse of the empire in 1806, regained it in 1815 and then lost it again in 1866, when it was annexed (though neutral) by the Kingdom of Prussia. It has been part of the state of Hesse since 1945. Frankfurt is culturally, ethnically and religiously diverse, with half of its population, and a majority of its young people, having a migrant background. A quarter of the population consists of foreign nationals, including many expatriates. In 2015, Frankfurt was home to 1,909 ultra high-net-worth individuals, the sixth-highest number of any city. As of 2023, Frankfurt is the 13th-wealthiest city in the world and the second-wealthiest city in Europe (after London).[7]
Frankfurt is a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and transportation, and is the site of many global and European corporate headquarters. Due to its central location in the former West Germany, Frankfurt Airport became the busiest in Germany, one of the busiest in the world, the airport with the most direct routes in the world, and the primary hub for Lufthansa, the national airline of Germany and Europe's largest airline. Frankfurt Central Station is Germany's second-busiest railway station after Hamburg Hbf, and Frankfurter Kreuz is the most-heavily used interchange in the EU. Frankfurt is one of the major financial centers of the European continent, with the headquarters of the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, KfW, Commerzbank, DekaBank, Helaba, several cloud and fintech startups, and other institutes. Automotive, technology and research, services, consulting, media and creative industries complement the economic base. Frankfurt's DE-CIX is the world's largest internet exchange point. Messe Frankfurt is one of the world's largest trade fairs. Major fairs include the Music Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest book fair. With 108 consulates, among which the largest is the US Consulate General, Frankfurt is second to New York City among non-capital cities in regards to consulate seats.
Frankfurt is home to influential educational institutions, including the Goethe University with the Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt (de) (Hesse's largest hospital), the FUAS, the FUMPA, and graduate schools like the FSFM. The city is one of two seats of the German National Library (alongside Leipzig), the largest library in the German-speaking countries and one of the largest in the world. Its renowned cultural venues include the concert hall Alte Oper, continental Europe's largest English theater and many museums, 26 of which line up along the Museum Embankment, including the Städel, the Liebieghaus, the German Film Museum (de), the Senckenberg Natural Museum, the Goethe House and the Schirn art venue. Frankfurt's skyline is shaped by some of Europe's tallest skyscrapers, which has led to the term Mainhattan. The city has many notable green areas and parks, including the Wallanlagen, Volkspark Niddatal, Grüneburgpark, the City Forest, two major botanical gardens (the Palmengarten and the Botanical Garden Frankfurt) and the Frankfurt Zoo. Frankfurt is the seat of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund – DFB), is home to the first division association football club Eintracht Frankfurt, the Löwen Frankfurt ice hockey team, and the basketball club Frankfurt Skyliners, and is the venue of the Frankfurt Marathon and the Ironman Germany.
Distinctions[edit]
Frankfurt is the largest financial hub in continental Europe. It is home to the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange and several large commercial banks.
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the world's largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and accounts for more than 90 percent of the turnover in the German market.
In 2010, 63 national and 152 international banks had their registered offices in Frankfurt, including Germany's major banks, notably Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, KfW, Deka Bank and Commerzbank, as well as 41 representative offices of international banks.[8]
Frankfurt is considered a global city (alpha world city) as listed by the GaWC group's 2012 inventory.[9] Among global cities it was ranked tenth by the Global Power City Index 2011 and 11th by the Global City Competitiveness Index 2012. Among financial hubs, the city was ranked eighth by the International Financial Centers Development Index 2013 and ninth in the 2013 Global Financial Centres Index.
Its central location in Germany and Europe makes Frankfurt a major air, rail, and road transport hub. Frankfurt Airport is one of the world's busiest international airports by passenger traffic and the main hub for Germany's flag carrier Lufthansa. Frankfurt Central Station is one of the largest rail stations in Europe and the busiest junction operated by Deutsche Bahn, the German national railway company, with 342 trains a day to domestic and European destinations.[10] Frankfurter Kreuz, also known as the Autobahn interchange and located close to the airport, is the most-heavily used interchange in the EU, used by 320,000 cars daily.[11] In 2011 human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Frankfurt as seventh in its annual 'Quality of Living' survey of cities around the world.[12] According to The Economist cost-of-living survey, Frankfurt is Germany's most expensive city and the world's tenth most expensive.[13]
Frankfurt has many downtown high-rise buildings that form its renowned Frankfurt skyline. In fact, it is one of the few cities in the European Union (EU) to have such a skyline, which is why Germans sometimes refer to Frankfurt as Mainhattan, combining the local river Main and "Manhattan". The other well-known nickname is Bankfurt. Before World War II, the city was noted for its unique old town, the largest timber-framed old town in Europe. The Römer area was later rebuilt and is popular with visitors and for events such as Frankfurt Christmas Market. Other parts of the old town were reconstructed as part of the Dom-Römer Project from 2012 to 2018.
Quality of life[edit]
In a 2001 ranking by the University of Liverpool, Frankfurt was rated the richest city in Europe by GDP per capita, followed by Karlsruhe, Paris and Munich.[91]
Frankfurt was voted the seventh in the Mercer Quality of Living Survey by the Mercer Quality of Living Survey (2012),[92] seventh in the Mercer Quality of Living Survey (2010) and 18th at the Economist's World's Most Liveable Cities Survey (2011).[93] According to an annual citizen survey (2010), arranged by the city council, 66 percent inhabitants are satisfied or highly satisfied with the city, while only 6 percent said that they are dissatisfied. Compared to the 1993's survey the number of satisfied inhabitants has grown about 22 percent while the number of dissatisfied inhabitants was reduced by 8 percent. 84 percent of the inhabitants like to live in Frankfurt, 13 percent would rather choose to live somewhere else. 37 percent are satisfied with the public safety (1993: only 9 percent), 22 percent are dissatisfied (1993: 64 percent).[94]
Frankfurt consistently has the highest levels of crime per 100,000 inhabitants in Germany (15.976 crimes per annum in 2008) and is therefore dubbed the German "crime capital".[95] However, this statistic is often criticized because it ignores major factors: It is calculated based on the administrative 680,000-inhabitant figure while the urban area has 2.5 M inhabitants and on weekdays adds another million people (not counting the 53 million passengers passing through the airport each year). The rate for personal safety-relevant crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape or bodily harm, is 3.4 percent, placing Frankfurt twelfth in the ranking (related to the official 680,000-inhabitant figure) or number 21 (related to the one-million-figure).[96] In 2018, the state of Hesse, where Frankfurt is located, was ranked the third-safest state in Germany.[97]
Education and research[edit]
Universities and schools[edit]
Frankfurt hosts two universities and several specialist schools. The two business schools are Goethe University Frankfurt's Goethe Business School and Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.
Frankfurt is home to multiple trade unions and associations, including:
Trade associations include: